"I want to express my sincere appreciation to Alcide Bernard for his past service as mayor of the Rural Municipality of Wellington and thank him for accepting this appointment," Brown said in a statement.

Bernard said last month he had earlier served as a municipal councillor, and was approaching retirement age and wanted to take a break.

He acknowledged being a mayor was a demanding job, and noted the village's aging population could also be a factor in the lack of a candidate.

"Even though Wellington has maintained about the same population over the past 20 or so years, people are aging," he said last month.

"It's a common phenomenon, and there's probably fewer people who are able to assume leadership roles."